The BMW Group is Boosting its Research Expertise in Asia

SHANGHAI – Marc 22, 2013: The BMW Group is extending its
international research and development network with the opening of a new
powerhouse for ideas in China. Alongside the main development centres in
Beijing and Shenyang, the location Shanghai is now also being expanded.
Since March 2011 it has already been home to the ConnectedDrive Lab and
since April 2012 also to the BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA. The BMW
Group Technology Office China is now the third pillar in Shanghai, and will
be responsible for dealing with the specifics of the Chinese market in
close cooperation with all development departments.

The BMW Group Technology Office China – tracking trends in
China. There’s no shortage of ideas. The big challenge facing
the eight employees in the BMW Group Technology Office China is to
research, evaluate and implement them. Doing so involves working in close
collaboration with the other Technology Offices and with their colleagues
in Munich.

“The central objective of our team is to check new trends and
technologies in China – from the automotive as well as non-automotive
sectors – for their practicability in BMW products, and where
appropriate make them available in the vehicle as fast as possible,”
explains Carsten Isert, Head of the BMW Group Technology Office China. In
view of the current megatrends of “urbanisation” and
“megacities”, researching revolutionary forms of mobility and
services constitutes a key part of the team’s work.

Short communications channels, quick decision-making processes and an
intuition for the innovations in this rising Asian giant are what make this
small, dynamic team tick. In concrete terms, this means identifying trends
and testing them out in prototypes. If the innovation is viable, the
prototype is transferred to the product development process for
pre-production or production development.

The unique setting in the heart of the pulsating megacity of Shanghai
with its cutting-edge companies and outstanding universities provides all
the right ingredients for the BMW Group Technology Office China. Intensive
networking with external partners throughout China is of vital importance
for the day-to-day research work, if the innovation trends in China are to
be detected and factored in at a very early stage.

Inspirational start-up mentality as driving force – the BMW
Group’s Technology Offices. The Technology Offices USA
(Mountain View, California) and Japan (Tokyo) have for years been key cogs
in the BMW Group’s internationally based R&D network. To a large
extent, they are responsible for shaping the face of personal and
sustainable premium mobility and services.

Since as long ago as 1998, the BMW Group Technology Office USA has been
a firmly established address in Silicon Valley – the very source of
so many of tomorrow’s trends. This facility’s principal task is
to identify the latest technologies and trends that are relevant to BMW
early on and transfer them to customers’ cars as quickly as possible.
The researchers are helped in their task by the location in Silicon Valley,
which continues to be a unique hotbed of creativity. Where else could you
find the market leaders from all manner of different industries, top-class
universities, innovative start-up firms, venture capitalists and business
analysts all in such close proximity to one another? Currently, the team is
focusing its research efforts on the following five areas: Trendscouting
and Technology Partnerships, Sustainable Mobility, The Networked Vehicle,
Driver Assistance Systems, und User Experience.

The BMW Group Technology Office Japan has been operating in the heart of
Tokyo, the world’s largest megacity, since 2002. The office’s
four employees are tasked with scrutinising the latest trends and
technologies within a network of globally operating suppliers and renowned
Japanese universities, recognising their potential and making them
accessible to the BMW Group. With Japan now one of the world’s most
important motoring nations, the market here plays a significant role. The
size of Tokyo and its population density meant that Japan was forced to
systematically adopt intelligent traffic management systems and
eco-friendly drive systems back in the 1990s. Today, the country is a world
leader in the development of fuel cells and hybrid and electric drives, as
well as in the field of intelligent traffic management systems. Japan also
sets the benchmark for consumer electronics, robotics, materials sciences
and production engineering.

BMW Group in China: fascinating blend of tradition and
innovation.Over half the world’s population lives in Asia,
meaning this region will have a strong influence over the global markets of
the future. China is at present the world’s largest emerging market
and one of the biggest individual markets globally for the BMW Group. Since
2003, the BMW Group has been manufacturing BMW 3 Series and 5 Series models
in its Chinese plant in Shenyang with its joint venture partner Brilliance.
In 2012, a second production facility was inaugurated in Tiexi in the
Shenyang region. In addition to a large development centre in the capital
of Beijing, the joint venture is currently in the process of setting up its
own development department, too.

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